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On March 21 — shortly before placing a National Humanities Medal around the neck of Jacksonville native Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole — President Joe Biden said, “We’re a nation, a great nation, in large part because of the power of the arts and humanities. That’s stamped into the DNA of America.”
In exactly the same way, the DNA of this extraordinary woman, who is both a daughter and a matriarch of our great city, is drawn from the city of Jacksonville and woven inextricably into it. Her heritage, leadership, vision, contributions and kindness are of Duval and will help shape its future.
At the White House, President Biden bestowed the nation’s highest honor upon Dr. Cole for her contributions to humanities — namely as a renowned anthropologist, the first African American female president of Spelman College, the director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and an international advocate for social justice.
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Locally, we know her as the great-granddaughter of A.L. Lewis, Florida’s first African American millionaire, and as a descendent of Anna Kingsley, an enslaved Wolof princess who became owner of Jacksonville’s Kingsley Plantation, now a National Historic Landmark.
Her extraordinary achievements paired with her deep local roots entitle her to be justly hailed as a hometown hero. But she is more, as we can also be more.
As leaders in Jacksonville’s arts and culture, philanthropy and health care industries, we collectively and individually have benefited from Dr. Cole’s evangelism of the power of racial inclusion. Her advice, encouragement and confidence can move mountains on the world stage as effectively as she quietly challenges us to scale new heights in private, insightful conversations.
Dr. Cole once said, “We are for difference: for respecting difference, for allowing difference, for encouraging difference — until difference no longer makes a difference.”
Together, we hope to continue building a legacy of inclusion in Jacksonville by being different in all the ways it counts and in none of the ways it doesn’t.
The leadership, accomplishments and very life of Dr. Cole represent a powerful strand in the tapestry of Duval’s multicolored history. Just as she did, so do we plan to weave our own lives and narratives into the city we call home.
Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, director and CEO, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens; Mari Kuraishi, president, Jessie Ball duPont Fund; and Darnell Smith, North Florida market president, Florida Blue
This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.
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